Canberra bureau chief

Tony Abbott has promised no night of the long knives, but public service bosses have been put on notice that not all their jobs are safe.

The Opposition Leader will not assure departmental secretaries they won’t be replaced should the Coalition win this year’s election.

Answering questions at the National Press Club on Thursday, Mr Abbott praised the work of the public service but he did not back away from his commitment to slash thousands of jobs in the sector.

Specifically on the question of department secretaries, he made it clear that some would be replaced.

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‘‘Government can’t do anything on the ground without the involvement of the Australian Public Service. So, I respect them and I’m going to work with them,’’ he said.

‘‘Can I say that every single departmental secretary will stay in his or her existing position? No, I can’t.

‘‘But there certainly won’t be anything resembling a night of the long knives or a bloodbath of the public service. Not at all.’’

Following John Howard’s 1996 election win, the Coalition thrust Canberra into recession with big job cuts throughout the public service.

Mr Howard also replaced half a dozen department chiefs.

But Australian National University politics professor John Wanna believes Mr Abbott should not follow his former leader’s example.

‘‘There is a perception in the Coalition that John Howard really stuffed it in ’96 and that it destabilised his government for some months,’’ Professor Wanna said.

‘‘Kevin Rudd managed it better when Labor returned to office and he took a good look at people before slowly making some changes.

‘‘It would be hard to find any of the department secretaries today who are overtly political. Most of them are professional heads of agencies. But Howard came into office distrusting the public service. Abbott would be well advised not to take that view.’’

A high-ranking public servant has told Fairfax Media that several of the secretaries are expecting to be tapped on the shoulder if the Coalition wins office.

‘‘We’re hoping for a decent outcome, but many are expecting the worst,’’ the contact said.

Mr Abbott attempted to portray himself as a friend of the public service, even though he has plans to slash at least 12,000 jobs in the sector. ‘‘I have spent many years working with the Australian Public Service – as an employment minister, as a workplace minister, as a health minister, as leader of the House of Representatives,’’ he said.

‘‘I spent an enormous amount of time working with the Australian Public Service and I came to really respect and admire the professionalism of the public service.

‘‘They always get the job done. I’m not saying that it’s always perfect and that it can’t be improved, but I respect them very much.’’

But Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Nadine Flood said Queensland Premier Campbell Newman made similar statements before he was elected.

‘‘Tony Abbott is right to acknowledge the professionalism ofpublic-sector workers. In fact, Campbell Newman said very similar things before taking an axe to the Queensland public service,’’ Ms Flood said. ‘‘Nice words at the Press Club are one thing, but the fact remains the federal Coalition has promised to cut at least 12,000 public-sector jobs if they get into office, which will not only hurt Canberra but severely erode services.’’

Former consultant and senior public servant Terry Fewtrell said the public sector could be looking at two different types of spending cuts, with any cuts made in the next budget by the Labor government likely to be specific and policy directed.

He said Mr Abbott probably would seek ‘‘dramatic, root-and-branch’’ cuts to the public service.

And former senior public servant Stephen Bartos told ABC radio that almost eight months’ notice of an election did not necessarily mean almost eight months of job security for the Australian Public Service.

Mr Bartos said public servants could try to use the time to shore up their positions within their departments and make a good impression, but it was likely both the opposition and even the government already had specific plans for cuts.

‘‘The public service shouldn’t feel at all complacent about this timetable, that it’s going to shield them from cuts in the meantime – the government’s pretty clearly signalled it wants some.’’

40 comments

Blah, blah, blah, Canberra went into recession after Howard PS cuts Blah blah blah Newman slashes PS, Qld economy? Blah blah blah Abbott will cut but not like Newman Blah blah blah12,000 will be sacked so how does this reconcile with your "job security" statement?

Commenter

Slogans for Bogans

Location

Brisbane

Date and time

January 31, 2013, 3:59PM

Here we go mass sackings from another inept conservative government.You cannot trust a rattle snake vote them in thats what you are going to get.The big end of town must be licking their lips along with the brain dead party faithfull.,oh and by the way when they get thrown out like they always do for stuffing the country up ,dont just suddenly get amnesia

Commenter

you asked for it

Location

brisbane

Date and time

January 31, 2013, 4:11PM

Good sack the lot of them and start again.

Commenter

J Walker

Date and time

January 31, 2013, 4:22PM

How come conservative supporters are all me me me ohh thats right your great leader the worst ever spend thrift PM little Johnnie.He did such a good job he lost his seat.i forgot lnp voters have short memories and deep pockets.

Commenter

party fathfull

Location

brisbane

Date and time

January 31, 2013, 7:01PM

Yeah, there's a smart answer .. just imagine it; sack 100,000 Canberra public servants to allegedly save money .. then spend MORE money simply to advertise their positions again. The result of which would be that you take probably all off them back (plus maybe a few more) again. And presto, no money saved. You must be a Shadow Cabinet member.

Commenter

Yoyo

Date and time

February 01, 2013, 7:45AM

Joe Hockey confirmed he will sacked 12,OOO public servants.Liberal are famous for doing that cutting down to the bone. School and hospitals fundingAre one of them . nothing new.

Commenter

Gerry

Location

Cornerstone

Date and time

January 31, 2013, 4:46PM

Why should anyones job be safe. In the real world employees jobs aren't a given but are performanced based. Just imagine trying this in the circus

Commenter

Bighouse

Location

Canberra

Date and time

January 31, 2013, 5:32PM

Because public servants need to be run independently of the ministers. Sometimes the PS needs to, what is right rather than just what the minister wants. The PS needs to give neutral advice on what is best for the country. If they could be sacked at the whim of a mad politician this would not happen.

Commenter

Ben

Location

Canberra

Date and time

January 31, 2013, 5:58PM

Please, Bighouse, think about it, just for a second. Abbott is basically saying that he wants to replace department heads with people who are going to tell him what the LNP wants to hear, irrespective of what good policy might be. Surely that is obviously stupid. The days of overtly political departmental secretaries are practically gone - surely the fact that O'Farrell kept the vast majority of the top NSW public servants, despite the policy train-wreck that was NSW Labor, is prime evidence. Abbott, if he was smart (unfortunately, we know he isn't), would in fact keep all of the departmental secretaries for most of his first year in power, exploit the fact that the secretarial incumbents do have the finger on the pulse of their own departments, and then, after a year and the experience of his own ministers, decide which ones need to go. That is what Rudd did, and it was much cleverer than Howard's boneheaded cull in 1996, which necessitated about 18 months of wheel reinvention immediately after he'd done it.

Commenter

Carlton Draft

Location

Canberra

Date and time

February 01, 2013, 11:37AM

It's OK - federal public servants only take care of immigration, defence, foreign affairs! Who needs 'em. Tony's going to send back the boats. He said so!